Pipe-laying machine.



No. 833,055. PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906.

G. A. HUFPMASTER.

PIPE LAYING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 23.1905.

2 SHEETSSHBET 1.

J PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906. C. A. HUPPMASTER.

PIPE LAYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.23 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

, rocal.

, UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. HUFFMASTER, OF SAN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA.

PIPE-:LAYING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Original application fliad'floptember 15, 1904,8oria1 No. 224,652. Divided and this application filed Novon bor 23, 1905.

' Beria1No.288,705.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. HUFFMAS- TER, a citizen of the United States, residing at SanLeandro, in the county of and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Laying Machines, caiilon. 1 t l invention re ates 0 pipeaying machinzs whereby the pipe is driven horizon tally under ound by rotating it on its own axis. Its o ject is to provide means in connection with the boring appliances'to expand the hole in advance of the pipe and to plaster the walls of the hole with t e mud formed by the loosened earth and the water, so that the pipe may be easily fedforward.

The invention consistsof the parts and the construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved pipe-laying machine. Fig. 2 is a lan view, in partia section, of pipe-grip and eedscrew. Fig. 3 is an elevation 0 contractible and expansible feed-nut. Fig. 4 is a section of boring tool and follower or expander. Fig. 5 shows a-modified form of boring-bit.

A represents a suitable portable frame supporting the boring and driving mechanism and capable of being introduced into and operated in a comparatively narrow space. Fixed to and carried by the. frame are two longitudinal parallel tracks or guides '2, on which the cross-heads 3, forming a carriage for the hollow The screw is journaled at its ends in these cross-heads, whereby it may have a rotary movement in addition to'its longitudinal movement on the tracks or guides 2. The forward end of the screw is provided with a grip 5, adapted to grip a drill rod or pipe section, as 6, acting as a drill-rod.

7 is a sprocket-wheel concentric with the screw and journaled in a part 8, stationar on the frame and intermediate of the ends of the guides 2. The screw has a longitudinal peripheral groove or keyway 9, in which a ke Y carried by the sprocket engages, and whic ke is secured by suitable means, as the setbo ts 10. By means of the key engaging the groove 9 the screw is made to rotate in unison with the sprocket, at the same time leaving Alameda ofwhich the following 1s a specifior tubular screw 4, are recip-' the screw to have a free sliding longitudinal.

effected on its rotation by means of suita le parts on the frame en ageable and disengageable at will with the tlireads of the screw.

I have shown, Fig. 3, achuck or expansible nut comprising'two plates 11, slidable in suitable guides at right angles to the axis of the screw and adapted when moved inward to engage the threads of the screw and when moved outward to release the screw. 'The reciprocation of the plates 11 is effected by a lever 12, fulcrumed coaxiall with the screw and having the eccentric s ots 13 engaging pins 14 in the respective lates. An oscillation of the lever in one .irection closes the clutch to make the screw reciprocate consistcut with its rotar movement, as inbori An oscillation of thelever in the opposite d1 'rectlon opens the clutch to free the screw and through the sprocket, as

quickly retract the 1 allow it to slide where it is desired to screw and its carriage in order to take a fresh hold on the drill rod or pipe or to receive a new section of pipe, as will be more fully explained later.

Any suitable means may be employed to rotate the screw. As shown, a shaft 15, suitably journaled on the frame, carries a sprocket 16, over which passes a chain 17 to sprocket 7. A hand-crank 18 serves to rotate shaft 15.

In practice an excavation is made large enough to receive't'he machine and leave room for its operation and for sections of pipe to be passed lengthwise through the screw.-

Either separate drill-rod sections or sections of the pipe to be laid may be passed successively through the hollow of the screw, united to the section immediatel in advance, clamped in the grip 5, and driven forward, the foremost section being provided with a suitable bit or auger.

In most cases it is preferred to bore the hole and lay the pi e simultaneously, forcing the pipe forward as the boring proceeds.

n such cases the pipe-sections themselves constitute the drill-rod.

ere small pipes-say up to an inch and a half or two inches in diameter-are to be laid, I may employ an auger, as 22,"attached directly to a pipe-section, and the pipe forced IOC forward and laid section after section as the boring proceeds. For a little larger pipe or pipes-say from two to four inches in dlameter, more or less-I prefer to use a boringtool, as 23, Figs. 1-4, having radial bits and a concentric sleeve orfollower 24 immediately rearward of the bits, designed to force the loosened earth outward and plaster it over the sides of the hole.

When the boring has proceeded a screw length, the lever 12 is operated to release the screw, the grip 5 is opened to un ip the pipe, and the screw is pushed or pu led back to bring its forward end close to the sprocket 7. The 'p 5 may then be closed on the pipe, the ates 11 reengaged with the screw, and the oring and pi e-laylng may again proceed a screw lengt or until a new section of pipe has to be added.

With whatever form of boring-tool or bit used it is designed that water be fed to the bit. as the boring advances. Accordingly the auger 22, which screws directly onto the end of the pipe, is channeled, as at 27, so that water may pass through and serve to soften the earth about the tool and make the sides of the hole slippery, whereby the pipe may easily follow after.

In Fig. 4 the boring-tool 23 has a hollow shank screwing onto the ipe or drill-rod, and the follower 24 is loose y turnable on the shank and is preferably oval or pear shape and tapered somewhat toward its forward end and of a diameter equal to that of the finished hole to be bored and somewhat larger than the pipe, so that the latter will feed forward easily. of the boring-tool through channels 27 connecting with the passage in the shank and through the shank with the pipe 6.

Water under pressure may be delivered into the pipe and to the bits by the following means: The outer end of the last section of pipe 6 carries a union 28, having a flexible connection 29 with a suitable force-pump 30, operated in unison with the screw-feed. The pump may be operated from shaft 15 by a suitable means. In the drawings I show the pump as operated by an eccentric e on the shaft 15, said eccentric having its strap f connected to the pump piston-rod g by means of a pivoted link h.

The pump is connected with a suitable source of water-supply, and its object is to deliver water to the drill to soften the round and in some instances to maintain an internal pressure in the pipe, operatin as a drill-rod, to help to hold the pipe sti and keep it from possibly buckling and, again, in other instances to permit of the pipe being tested when laid. For this latter purpose preferably a ga 'e 31 is connected with the union 28 and tl ie flow of fluid to the age and to the interior of the pipe controlled y a cock 32.

'31, the pump ma Water is fed in advance anda rotatable tapered follower By removing the bit or auger on the end of the pipe, capping the end of the latter, and opening the chuck-plates 11 the pump may be operated without moving the pipe. When a sufficient pressure is indicated by the gage If t turned off. e register of the gage is be stopped and the cock maintained, the joints of the pipe are tight 1 and well made. If the gage runs down, it indicates a leak which may be corrected before laying the pipe or forcing it farther forward, or in lieu of the force-pump and water-gage a steam-gage connected with a steam or air ressure supply may be used as.

an indicator or testing.

By the operation of a bit such as shown in Fig. 4 the mud that is formed by the action of the bits and water is presse g outward by I suit that thesleeve or follower 24, with I an open conduit with smooth p red walls may be formed, into which, i esired, the pipe may be pushed after the. withdrawal through the other end of the hole of the boringitools.

y means of a boring-tool with a sleeve 01' follower of this character designed to operate immediately behind the bits and to push the loose earth outward radially one may bore a hole of considerable size and leave all the dirt in the hole.

This application is a division of my original application, Serial No. 224,552, filed September 15, 1904, for an improvement in pipelaying machines. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. In a pipe-laying machine, the combination with a pipe to be laid of an auger on one end of said pipe and means for advancing said pipe, said means including a suitablysupported rotary section and means associated with and loosely mounted relative to the auger for forcing the earth loosened by the auger outward radially of the hole bored.

2. An earth-auger havin in combination with its cutting edges, a ollower disposed rearward of its cutting edges and loosely turnable on the shank of the auger, and

adapted to press out radially the earthloos sued by the cutting ed es.

3. An earth-auger aving cutting edges isposed behind the cutting edges.

4. An earth-auger comprisi a shank portion, cutting edges and ro'tatab e follower coaxial with said shank portion and tapered in the direction of the cuttingnesges. v

5. In a pipe-laying mac e, the combination of an earth-auger having a hollow shank, a follower loosely turnable on said shank, a hollow support for said shank, means for advancing and rotating said hollow su port, and means for delivering Water throug said support to the cutting end of the auger.

IIC'

the pump and the pipe-section, and connections between the pump and the shaft whereby the pump and screw are operated in uni- 6. In a pipe-laying machine, the combination with a pipe to be laid, of a screw for advancing the plpe, guides arranged parallel with the screw and pipe, a gripping member son. 15-

5 slidably engaging said guides and adapted to In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 'p and release the pipe, a su pbrtingmy hand in presence of two subscribing witamework, a shaft journaled t erein, a nesses.

sprocket-wheel concentric with the screw CHARLES A. HUFFMASTER. and a sprocket-wheel on said shaft, a sprocket Witnesses:

10 chain extending between the s rocket- M. GEISENHOFER, wheels, a force-pump, connections etween C. SHADDOGK. 

